


Open Flames

by DarkestAnti



Category: Lucifer (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Grab your shipping material, M/M, Oc sets everything on fire, Romance is hard to write, flirty Lucifer, oc likes bucky and steve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:42:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26213578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkestAnti/pseuds/DarkestAnti
Summary: Lucifer takes Azariah under his wings and gets her a job at Lux. She is settling in nicely until a call from her friend Tony throws a wrench in her plans. Now, she's on her way to the Avenger's Headquarters as the newest team member. She can't tell if she's nervous or excited to meet everyone. All she can do is try to not to burn the place to the ground by accident
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV)/Tony Stark, OC/Steve Rogers
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	1. I swear, if you give me another stupid nickname, I'll burn all your shit to the ground.

**Author's Note:**

> "Tony, I told you I wasn't gonna join your little boy band. I've finally found a job that I like and a boss that doesn't treat me like shit. I am not gonna be your next charity case." Azariah rolls her eyes as she wipes down a table. In two hours, the doors to the state's greatest nightclub, Lux, would open and she needed to make sure the place was ready. She really didn't have the time to be having this conversation, but if she didn't, Tony would most likely show up in person and she reallllyyyyy didn't want that.

"Tony, I told you I wasn't gonna join your little boy band. I've finally found a job that I like and a boss that doesn't treat me like shit. I am not gonna be your next charity case." Azariah rolls her eyes as she wipes down a table. In two hours, the doors to the state's greatest nightclub, Lux, would open, and she needed to make sure the place was ready. She really didn't have the time to be having this conversation, but if she didn't, Tony would most likely show up in person, and she reallllyyyyy didn't want that.

"You mean, the guy that thinks he's the Devil? Yeah, that's a winner right there. Come on, Azar, you can do so much better than that. Look, I can pick you and have you settled in your very own room here within a couple of hours. I'll even set you up in a room between Legolas and Point Break. You'll be a great addition, Matchstick." She had to laugh at Tony's random nicknames, and she considered saying yes for 2.5 seconds before her brain started prioritizing.

"You are not calling me Matchstick. I will burn down everything you own before I let you call me that, and you know it. I really do like this job. Pay is great, the boss is pretty cool, and I get sweet benefits. Plus, the boss looks the other way when I accidentally set things on fire. I call this a win-win." Azar finishes with the rest of the tables and starts stocking the bar. She glances at her phone briefly before sighing, "Look, I have to finish setting up. Can't we talk about this later? The club opens in about an hour and a half, and I still have a lot to do."

The amusement in Tony's voice was very apparent, and he knew better than to push his hothead friend. "Alright, you win. I'll think of a better one and get back to you. I'll tell you what it is when I show up. Can't wait to meet your boss. See you in a few Azar." Without waiting for a reply, Tony ended the call, leaving Azariah starting at her phone. She couldn't decide if she was angry or amused at the fact that her impulsive and overprotective friend was now on the way to her club. With a sigh of exasperation, she got back to work.

Time seemed to fly by, and soon enough, the place was packed with people. The club was always crowded on the weekend, but this Friday seemed even more packed than before. It would seem that rumors had gotten around about the gothic, redheaded bartender that could set fire to things. People crowded the bar, waiting for a glimpse of this ability. Azariah didn't mind because it meant more tips coming her way. She had everything under control until some asshole threw his drink at her because she wouldn't give him her number.

She clenched her teeth and grabbed a few napkins to wipe her face and chest off as she tried not to set the man on fire. The idiot was still yelling obscenities at her until he was abruptly cut off. The sudden silence from him made Azar look up and into the eyes of her boss and owner of the club, Lucifer Morningstar. Her anger seemed to die a little now that Lucifer was here, but it wasn't gone completely. "Hey boss, what can I get ya to drink?"

Lucifer's grip on the rude man's shoulders tightened a smidge more, making the man flinch and look very remorseful. "Why Azariah, it looks as though someone has made a poor mess of you. Who would do such a thing to someone as delectable as you?" Lucifer could flirt and threaten someone in the same sentence as easily as breathing, and it didn't hurt that he had such a beautiful exotic accent.

"Some idiot felt I owed him my number and got pissy because I didn't give it to him. Now I'm covered in alcohol because he threw his drink at me. Good thing you showed up because I was about to show him what it felt like to be in the hot seat." Opening her fist to a charred and crumbling napkin, she blew the ashes towards the two of them, and it seemed to make the man grow pale and gulp.

Lucifer jerked the man so that he was now facing the angry devil. He grinned, but it wasn't something someone would want to be directed at them. "What kind of a sod throws a tantrum just because he doesn't get a lady's number. Since you can't respect a woman's wishes, you are no longer welcome in my club. Apologize to Azariah before I do something, you'll very much regret." His eyes flashed a bright red for a moment as he stared the man down.

"I... I'm sorry, lady. It'll never happen again. Sorry for troubling you." As though a signal had been given, security dragged the troublemaker away and out of Lux.

Sighing, Azariah

Sighing, Azariah grabs a few more napkins and tries to wipe off more of the sticky liquid before giving up. She flips her hair back and places her hands on her hips, "Thanks for the save. I was trying really hard to be good, but he was pushing some serious buttons. Now I probably look like shit."

The Devil leaned over the bar and waggled his finger at Azar, "You could never look like shit. You would look beautiful even in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Why don't you take the rest of the night off and let Maze finish the night?" His eyes held sympathy and regret, but his smile was full of unspoken suggestions.

"I would love to, but a friend should be showing up here any minute. I'll never hear the end of it if he shows up after I've already left." Lucifer looks her over for a few minutes in deep thought and then waves over the other bartender. "Look after the bar for a few moments while I take our luscious lady here to go freshen up." The bartender smiles at him before getting back to work.

"I don't have any other clothes here, Boss, I'm fi..." Before she can say much else, Lucifer is already interrupting her.

"You must call me Lucifer, I insist. No need for such formalities." He holds out a hand for her to take, and with a moment's hesitation, she lays her hand in his, letting him lead her from behind the bar to his elevator.

"I really am fine. I've dealt with much worse, and I didn't exactly bring a spare set of clothes to change into." Azar says as they enter the elevator. It made her nervous and awkward being this close to the self-proclaimed Devil, but she really did need this job, no matter how weird her boss was.

He turned his full smile on her, and her knees started to shake. Something in her ignited as she stared into his eyes, and pure lust filled her. Something had changed, and now the redhead was inexplicably drawn to him. "Nonsense. I can't have my employees drenched in alcohol because of some idiot. I have some female clothing that should be to your taste, but by that look, you may not need clothes at all." It took a moment for his words to register, but when they did, her brain kicked back into gear, and she managed to beat the lust back.

She had started to lean towards Lucifer and quickly straightened back up. "I…ah...I don't know what happened. I'm not usually like this, especially when it comes to my boss." Azar looked at the elevator doors in such utter confusion over what happened. She never mixed work and pleasure, but there was just something about Lucifer that made you want to roll all over him, like a cat to catnip. Thankfully, the doors opened, and she quickly walked out into what appeared to be his penthouse.

Lucifer walked out behind her and led her to the bedroom, "Oh, no need to be ashamed. It's a natural reaction when in my presence. Now, let's get you out of those clothes and into something clean." They stopped in front of a massive walk-in closet, and her jaw dropped. Every variation of clothing was stuffed in there, and it was bigger than her bedroom. Everything in there must cost more than her apartment building.

He started rummaging through the clothes with single-minded determination, mumbling to himself about each item, until he had a few articles. When he was satisfied, he turned and handed them all to Azariah, who was still in shock. She shook her head and grabbed the items, "Bo-Lucifer, I can't do this. They cost way too much, and I can't afford to pay you if something happens to them." She tried to hand them back, but he simply walked past her to his personal bar.

Grabbing a glass, he pours himself a drink and walks over to his couch. "Oh, nonsense. Think of these as an apology for what happened. Try them on and keep what you like. As you saw, I have plenty of others, and if I need to, I can buy more." Lucifer smirks and raises his glass to her as if he is shooing her to the bathroom. Without another word, she turns and quickly heads to the bathroom, her long, dark red hair flying behind her.

Azar slams the door behind her and rests against the door as she takes in the gorgeous bathroom. It looked exactly like she imagined a billionaire bathroom to look like. The tub looked like it could fit 15 people in it easily. She was determined to stay on Lucifer's good side because if he could afford all this, then he could certainly ruin her. With a sigh, she lays the clothes out on the counter and looks them over.

It looked like Lucifer had given her a few different styled dresses and a corset/ pant set. Everything was Black with just small splashes of color. He had been able to nail her style perfectly. Of course, it was pretty obvious what she liked, so it wasn't that hard to figure it out. Not feeling in a dress mood, she undresses and puts on the corset and tight leather pants. Somehow, that sneaky devil had gotten her size just right. The pants had been fairly easy to put on, but the corset would be a problem. She was going to need help with lacing the back.

"Hey, Lucifer? Do you mind helping me out? This top is a little outside my expertise."

"Ooh, is that an invitation to look at that enticing figure of yours? My dear, my hands are yours to use as you please."

"Psh, not like that you deviant. I just need help with the back of this corset." She had to smile and laugh. She had gotten used to these kinds of comments in her short time working at Lux, and her boss had made sure it was all right before he started suggesting the really naughty stuff. He was all about that consent, which was even better.

The door opened, and in popped Lucifer, mischievous smile plastered on his face. "Oh Azariah, that outfit looks absolutely ravishing on you. I dare say, Mazikeen would approve of this. Although I think the clothes would look much better on the floor than on you." He waggled his eyebrows as he walks up behind her and starts to tighten the laces in the back.

Her cheeks turned bright red, and the towel next to the sink caught on fire. She makes a move to throw it in the sink, but Lucifer tugs on the laces, pulling her back into place. Looking up in the mirror, she gives him a questioning look, "Do you want your place to burn to the ground? That's exactly what's going to happen if you keep saying things like that. I can't keep control if you keep getting me all fired up."

"Perhaps, a loss of control is exactly what you need." He leaned forward and whispered that into her ear. His nearly black eyes staring into her bright, emerald green eyes through the mirror, causing her to shiver. Lucifer knew exactly what he was doing, and it was driving her wild. Flames flickered from her fingertips, and wisps of it moved through her hair. Thankfully, her phone went off, saving her from the lust that was running rampant.

Lucifer smiles and winks at Azar as he straightens and moves back, leaving her space to answer her phone. "Well, if you do not wish to take me up on the offer, then I shall leave so you may finish getting ready."

"Thanks again for letting me borrow the clothes and for the help. I'll be out in a few minutes." The bathroom door shut, and Azar scrambles to answer the phone before it goes to voicemail. She never bothered to see who was calling, but the Black Sabbath ringtone gave it away. "Please tell me you're not actually here."

The pounding of music in the background told her everything she needed to know. "In the flesh. The only thing that's missing is you. Where's your boss at, Firefly? I want to know what kind of a crazy person calls themselves the Devil and owns the hottest nightclub in LA." Tony sounded like he was in the thick of the club, and it would only be a matter of time before the ladies started to cling to him like glue.

"There was a mishap earlier, and I had to change. I'll be down in a few. Stick to the bar so I can find you. Oh, and Tony, if you try and make firefly stick, I'll murder you." It was said with that sickeningly sweet voice that portrayed innocence, but you just knew it really meant pain. Hanging up the phone and turning to look in the mirror, Azariah checked herself over one last time before leaving the bathroom.

Lucifer was standing on his balcony looking out at the busy city. "Are you ready to go back downstairs? I'm assuming that was your friend on the phone letting you know they are here." He turns towards her, walking to the bar to put his glass down.

"Yeah, he's waiting for me by the bar. Unfortunately, he wants to meet you. Honestly, you don't have to meet him if you don't want to. Tony is such a pain in the ass at times, and I just want to finish my shift and go home. With him here, that won't happen." Hands-on her hip, she rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Oh, my dear, if that's the case, then I'll gladly distract your friend so you can make a quick getaway." He drains his glass and puts it on the bar, all while winking at her. She had to laugh at that. Just imagining Lucifer flirting with Tony put a smile on her face. Both of them were playboys; though Lucifer would flirt with everything in sight, Azar was pretty sure that Tony was straight. She couldn't wait to see this play out.

She laughs as she makes her way back to the elevator. "You're more than welcome to be my distraction. It'll be hilarious seeing you try to pick up a straight man." They both step into the elevator, and a thought pops into her head, causing her to turn to the taller man in concern, "Are you ok? I didn't burn you earlier or anything? Why aren't you freaking out about what I can do? Most of the time, when people see the things I do, they either scream in terror or try to use me as the star of some freak show. You don't even seem phased when I accidentally set something on fire."

Lucifer laughed as he hit the elevator button that would take them back to the club. "I am the Devil. It would take something more than a little fire to hurt me. You needn't be concerned about my well-being, little Inferno." She would have asked him more questions, but the doors opened, revealing the ongoing party.

Bodies writhed to the music, and the lights flashed in different colors. The place seemed even more crowded than before, though that was no surprise. LA seemed to really come alive at night, and Lux was known for being the safest and best nightclub around. Famous people from all different walks came here to party and have a good time.

Azar walked to the bar without looking to see where Lucifer went and nodded at the bartender, who went back to their side of the bar. She immediately started taking orders and got back into her rhythm. It wasn't too long before someone whistled and started shouting at her. "Hey Hotrod, what's a guy gotta do to get a hug from a friend?"

A large grin crosses her face as she looks in the direction of the voice. Putting a hand on her hip, she sarcastically calls out, "Maybe when said guy stops trying to give his friend a stupid ass nickname." People at the bar started laughing at that, along with some cheers from the girls. "My shift ends in an hour, and then I'll introduce you to the boss." She was already pouring him a glass of whiskey; his taste of alcohol always the same.

Tony winked at her and disappeared into the mass of bodies as though he had never been here. She focused on getting everyone their drinks, and before she knew it, her replacement was tapping her on the shoulders and telling her to go home. With a smile and a thank you, Azar stepped out from behind the bar and started the search for Tony. It would be easier to find him from higher ground, so she made her way to the stairs. She found Lucifer standing at the top leaning over the railing, sipping on his drink.

"I'm surprised you're still here. Usually, you've already gone up to your penthouse with someone on your arm." Azar stands next to him and leans over the railing, looking for her missing friend.

He chuckles and takes a drink, "Yes, well, I couldn't exactly leave before meeting this friend of yours. I assume that's who you're looking for now. I believe you'll find him down there surrounded by women. Why didn't you tell me that your friend is the great and illustrious Iron Man?"

"Of course, he's surrounded by women. Everyone wants a taste of the billionaire. I didn't tell you because you would have figured it out when you met him. It's not like I was keeping it a secret." Humour laced her voice as she spotted the hero.

"Well, let's not keep the man waiting. I'm sure he's eager to catch up with you if he has come all the way from New York. I know I am eager to meet the man." Lucifer smiled mischievously as he makes his way towards Tony. Azar laughed at his apparent eagerness to meet her old friend and followed close behind.

The crowd parted for them, and they were eventually standing in front of a small group of women circling Tony, like vultures. Clearing his throat to get their attention didn't work; they were too focused on the man called Iron Man, and Tony was clearly playing to his audience. Azar sighed and gave a shrill whistle, causing everyone to stare her down. "There you are, Red! I thought you would try and sneak out on me, not that you would have gotten very far. I do know where you live after all." He started making his way towards the duo, but the crowd refused to move. "If you'll excuse me, ladies, I've got a friend to recruit." If looks could kill, then Azar would have been in some serious trouble. Every woman was glaring at the newcomer, mumbling under their breath to each other.

The crowd dissipated, and the friends hugged each other. "I figured it would be best to get this over with. I'd rather not be hunted down like one of your criminals. I swear to the fucking Devil, if you don't stop coming up with dumbass nicknames for me, I will melt every one of your metal suits. Try me, flyboy." She was smiling as they stepped back, and Tony gasped in mock offense.

"You wouldn't dare! I'll have you know that I thought long and hard on those nicknames, and you shouldn't be so judgy. Every single one of them fits you."

"I would do it, and you know it. So, go ahead and keep coming up with them. See what happens."

Lucifer burst out laughing at the threat. "I think I would tread carefully. As someone who has seen what happens when Azariah is messed with, I would head the threat." He takes a few steps closer, no longer willing to watch from the background.

"I don't take advice from some guy who calls himself the Devil. In fact, I have a few psychiatrists on my retainer. Call Claire, and she can help you with your delusion." Tony sneers and pulls a card out of his wallet and hands it to Lucifer.

"So hostile towards someone you just met. Tell me, Tony Stark, what is it you desire?" Lucifer cocks his head and smiles as he looks into Tony's eyes. Tony's hand lowers slightly as his eyes start to lose focus. He opens his mouth to say something but decides against it, seemingly struggling against an unknown source. "You're one of the harder ones, I see. Come on, with all your vast riches and knowledge, what is it you truly desire?"

Azar watches as Tony struggles against whatever Lucifer was doing to him. She had seen him do this with a few of the patrons but not up close. It was certainly entertaining to watch Tony struggle not to answer. The Devil in question seemed to be getting a kick out of it too. His smile widened the longer Tony took to answer.

Tony loses the battle, and his hand drops completely. "I... I want to protect the world and right the wrongs that I've done." He takes a step back, blinking as if he was just coming out of a trance. His eyes widen in surprise, and he looks at Azar for confirmation that that did indeed happen.

"A nobleman indeed. A much more attractive trait than the one you normally portray." He had a Cheshire smile on now that his question had a desirable answer.

Tony collects himself and seems to be thinking hard about something. "That was not the weirdest thing I've ever encountered, but it was definitely up there. I know a man that is a god, so I guess meeting the devil isn't that strange. You got any more abilities hidden in that body of yours?"

"Tony, Lucifer is not joining the Avengers. Don't try to steal my boss for your boy band. I won't let it happen." Azar sighs and smacks him on the arm.

"Let him ask his questions, Azariah. If he wants a demonstration, then I will happily oblige." Rubbing his hands together, he looks at Azar as if signaling something to her.

It takes her a moment, but finally, it dawns on her what her boss was about to do. She doubles over, laughing at the scene that was going to unfold before her. "Tony, I really don't think you want to see what he can do."

"What? What's happening? I feel like I'm missing the joke here. See, now I have to know." Tony looks at the two of them completely confused, throwing his hands up in the air.

Struggling to get her laughter under control, she shakes her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you. This is gonna be a sight to see." She takes a few steps back to have more room so she wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.

Whatever Lucifer did up in the penthouse was nothing compared to what he was doing now. Even though his focus was completely on Tony, Azar could still feel the effects. She backed up even further to try and lessen the blow, breathing deeply. Lucifer took another step towards Tony, "Not only can I get people to tell me their deepest, darkest desires, but I can also draw out desire. Just look at me." He motioned to the full length of himself. "I am just dripping with sin, so it's only natural that people are drawn to me. Now, tall, arrogant, and handsome, you've told me what you desire. Let me tell you what I desire."

The lust in Lucifer's eyes was apparent as he took yet another step towards Tony, who was standing his ground with a smirk. His breath hitches as he stares into the devil's eyes. "What I desire… is you. That luscious body of yours tangled in my sheets. Throw in a few different toys, and we could have an absolutely wonderful time. What do you say?"

The deep breaths weren't helping, and neither was the imagery that Lucifer was so eloquently putting together. Azar could feel the heat rushing through her body as the pull towards Lucifer became stronger. Everything in her longed to run her hands over his body and do exactly what he wanted. She had taken a few steps towards the men before she caught herself. Thankfully, neither seemed to notice.

Tony leans towards the taller man and licks his lips. He thinks about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I need a drink. You want a drink because I definitely need a drink."

A collective sigh draws Lucifer and Tony's gaze to their surroundings. They had drawn a crowd; men and women alike had gathered to watch the display, hoping to see more. It didn't help that Lucifer's amped-up power had drawn them. Tony looked over at his friend, only to see that people were trying to avoid the woman that had flames coming off her skin.

"You ok over there, Sparks?" Tony's voice is the ice needed to break the spell over her. Azar takes a deep breath and sighs as the flames vanish. She blinks a few times before giving him a weak grin. "Yeah, I just need some air."

"Why don't we continue this conversation upstairs. Azariah will be able to get her much needed air, and we will be able to talk without drawing in such a crowd." Lucifer motions to Tony and walks off towards the elevator to his penthouse. Tony looks at Azar, who nods, and they both follow after Lucifer.

Tony and Lucifer talk as they enter the elevator, though Azar pays no attention to them. She's too focused on trying to control the flames that want to burst free. When the doors open, she rushes out, immediately making a beeline for the balcony. Inhaling the fresh air, she leans over the railing and looks out at the city. Time passes, and she can hear the guys talking, but she tunes it all out. Her skin felt tight, and her nerves were shot from trying to keep such tight control over her power. She was used to keeping her power under lock and key, but she was having a much harder time with everything happening tonight.

"You doing alright, Hot Stuff? You seem tense." Azar jumps in surprise when Tony walks up behind her. He stands next to her with his arms crossed and a look of concern on his face.

She nods and smiles at her friend. "Yeah, I just needed a moment to myself. I normally don't have such a hard time, but a lot has happened today. I'm not sure how to explain it without sounding crazy." A small chuckle escapes her lips.

"I work with a God, spy, super soldier, a guy who turns into a green rage machine, Clint, and I have you as a friend. Not to mention I've just met someone who almost has me convinced he's the devil. Nothing you say will sound crazy to me. So, what's on your mind, Kid?" His words ease the tension in her mind.

"I've gotten pretty good at controlling my ability. I don't set things ablaze just by walking by them anymore, but today… I was stupid and let someone guy get me riled up. Then, I've felt Lucifer's power twice, and I just couldn't keep that box shut. I've got no way just to let go, and that's making it harder and harder to keep everything contained. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt someone…. again." She shudders at the reminder of her childhood.

Nodding his head, Tony wraps Azar in a brief hug. He looks down at her with a sympathetic smile and then smirks. "You know. You wouldn't have this issue if you just came with me. You need to let loose, and I do know a few people that can help you with that."

"Tony, I don't know how many times I have to say this before it sinks into that big head of yours, but I'm not going." She flips her hair back and waggles her finger at him.

"I'll make you a deal. If you win, I'll stop bugging you about coming with me. If I win, then you have to join the Avengers." He raises an eyebrow and smirks as if he's already won.

"What's the deal?"

"It's a yes or no question."

"You really expect me to just agree to a deal that I know nothing about?"

"Let me think… Yes."

"How about a big fat no. You either tell what the deal is, or I don't agree to anything."

"That's fine. I hope you get used to hearing my wonderful voice every day."

"You're serious? How are you gonna do me like that?"

"Oh, come on, it's me. Besides, what's the worst that could happen."

"Knowing you, a lot."

"It's really a simple question."

"FINE! I give. Now, what's the deal."

"You let Devil dude over there use his mojo on you. If you can keep your powers locked down, then you win. I see even a hint of fire, and you have to come with me." Tony's smile widens at the exasperated look on Azar's face. He had her, and he knew it.

She glares at him, "You are such an asshole. You knew I would say no; that's why you refused to tell me. I can't believe I fell for it. Of course, you pick something you absolutely know you're going to win. Watch your back cause I'm getting you back for this."

Tony holds out his arm and laughs, "After you, M'lady."

Azar walks inside and finds Lucifer sitting at his piano, playing a beautiful melody. She walks over to it and crosses her arms. "Are you in on this?"

He looks at her briefly before turning his attention back to the song. "If you're referring to the deal, then yes. If you're referring to something else, then that would be a no. What was your answer?"

"After being tricked, I agreed." She sighs in resignation and sits on the bench next to Lucifer, watching his fingers expertly move across the keys. "So, what's next?"

Lucifer doesn't answer the question, but the melody on the keyboard changes to something darker, more compelling, and that's when he started to sing.

**When I was a child, I'd sit for hours**

**Staring into open flame**

**Something in it had a power**

**Could barely tear my eyes away**

**All you have is your fire**

**And the place you need to reach**

**Don't you ever tame your demons**

**But always keep 'em on a leash**

Lucifer belts out the lyrics as he continues to play. His voice was going with the ebb and flow of the melody; his body gently swaying as he played. To Azar, it felt like he was drawing the darkness out of her. She could feel his power drawing her in, calling to her. Another part fought violently to break free of the spell he was weaving.

**When I was 16, my senses fooled me**

**Thought gasoline was on my clothes**

**I knew that something would always rule me**

**I knew the scent was mine alone**

**All you have is your fire**

**And the place you need to reach**

**Don't you ever tame your demons**

**But always keep 'em on a leash**

She leaned towards him as the song washed over her. She had no idea what he had planned next, but if it was half as beautiful as this, then she didn't mind in the slightest. Her hair started to rustle as flames flickered in her hair, and the heat started to rise. Neither of them minded, and Tony stayed back, content to watch the scene play out.

**When I was a man, I thought it ended**

**When I knew love's perfect ache**

**But my peace has always depended**

**On all the ashes in my wake**

**All you have is your fire**

**And the place you need to reach**

Lucifer let go of the keys and reached out to Azar, caressing her cheek and pushing back her fiery hair. He leaned towards her, singing the last lines softly. Azar's breath hitches as he gets nearer, heart racing.

**Don't you ever tame your demons**

**But always keep 'em on a leash**

He sings the last word on her lips and then kisses her.

An inferno blazed through Azar, and the box flies wide open. The curtains burst into flames, and Lucifer's glass on the table shatters from the heat. Azar jerks back from the kiss as Tony tries to smother the flames. "Tony, get back." He quickly does as she says.

Holding her hand upright, the flames leap into her hands where she smothers it. She sighs as she stands up, looking back at Lucifer with the mischievous grin on his face. "I told you I was going to set your place on fire if you kept doing that to me. This was not my fault."

"I think a few crispy curtains and broken glass are an even trade for a reaction like that. I'd love to see what happens if we take things farther." He laughs, and that makes her roll her eyes.

"That is so not happening. No offense, but I can just tell that this would end badly for me." She turns towards Tony, who was texting someone. "A deal is a deal. When do we leave?"

"We have a flight that leaves in two hours. That gives us enough time to go back to your place and pack what you need. I'll have somebody come by and collect the rest of your things later."

"Well, I guess it's safe to say that I quit. Thanks for all the help. I'll see you around, I guess." Azar starts to walk to the elevator when she hears Lucifer call out. "Oh, I should hope so. I'm not letting the two of you leave me behind after a spectacle like that." She waves goodbye to him and walks into the elevator. The doors shut on the two men arguing about whether Lucifer would actually be going. Guess she would just have to wait and see when they got to the plane.


	2. I’d say that’s terrifying, but I’ve met a guy that can wield lightning.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh, I’d much rather see you flustered, Tony. I’d prefer to see you naked in my bed but I’ll settle for flustered.” The look on Tony’s face as Lucifer turned his full attention on the cocky man was a beautiful sight to see. He wasn’t prepared for Lucifer to switch his full attention from person to person and it left him slightly speechless. Tony started clearing his throat and loosening his tie when Lucifer put his arm on the back of Tony’s seat and whispering in his ear

“Aww, that’s so cute, but no. You’re going to stay here like a good little nightclub owner.” Tony stood outside the plane, arguing with Lucifer. They had been doing this since the three of them had arrived at the airport. Neither one would back down from the other, and it would have been highly amusing if Azar wasn’t worrying herself to death about meeting Tony’s teammates. Did they know about her past? What if they hated her?

Azar watched from her seat as Lucifer gave Tony an offended, hurt look. It changed into one of flirtation and seduction, and soon enough, Tony was letting him onto the plane with a dazed and confused look on his face. She chuckled when Tony sat in the seat next to her with a pouty expression on his face. “Hmm. I see Lucifer will be joining us this evening. I wonder what could have changed?”

“Say anything to the others, and I’ll have Lucifer demonstrate his abilities on you.” Tony glares at me as one of his flight attendants brings him a drink. Thank god for having a rich friend; it certainly made travel much easier. 

He takes a sip from his glass and avoids the stare coming from the man sitting across from him. Lucifer grins as he looks at Azar and Tony, who is still avoiding his gaze. “I do believe this will be a rather exquisite trip. Such an exciting event to meet the Avengers. Is Thor around? I haven’t seen him or brother since that Asgardian party about 200 years ago.” Lucifer put his glass down and clapped his hands together. He looked like an enthusiast child about to see his favorite classmates after a long summer break.  
Azar was taking a drink when Lucifer dropped this small bit of news, causing her to choke on her drink in surprise. Tony thumped her back, trying to help her out but seemed just as shocked. Lucifer seemed a bit concerned that Azar was choking but could not seem to figure out why both of them were so surprised.

“You Know Thor? Why didn’t he say anything to us? When did you meet? How often do you party with them?”

“You’ve been to Asgard? How hot is Loki? Is he as hot in real life? How crazy is he? Does Thor fall in the Jock category? He seems like a jock.”

Lucifer held his hands up at the bombardment of questions coming from both of them. Azar and Tony both talking over each other in their excitement to get more information. Tony’s questions are laced with a bit of skepticism, considering that the person shelling out this new information considered himself the Devil. Azar, more eager to hear about Loki than the blonde-haired Avenger.

“One at a time, please. I’ll answer all your questions. Yes, I’ve known Thor for quite some time. I met him and his brother around the era of Vikings. Quite a lovely bunch, those Asgardians. Really know how to throw a party.” Lucifer continued to answer questions the entire flight. It made time pass rather quickly and gave both Tony and Azar insightful knowledge into their companion.

Before she knew it, the plane had landed, and she was gathering her items. Lucifer and Tony didn’t have any luggage but were kind enough to help Azar with hers. Azar was overjoyed when she saw Happy leaning against Tony’s car, waiting for them to show up. Happy stood up and straightened his suit when he saw the three of them coming towards him.

Azar ran for him and gave him an enthusiastic hug. “Happy! Man, have I missed you. You really missed a great moment.” She started laughing when Tony gave her a sharp look.

“Azariah, keeping out of trouble, I hope? It hasn’t been the same since you left. Tony keeps moping around the place, complaining about how you abandoned him. Maybe now that you’re back, Pepper won’t have to worry about him harassing her anymore.” Happy returns the hug, chuckling, before opening the door to the car.

“Uh, excuse me. I was not moping. I was openly disagreeing with her life’s decision, and Pepper is my assistant. It's my job to harass her. Who else will do it if I don't?” Azar rolls her eyes as Tony gets in the luxury car. 

“Well, I’m not sure if he told you, but I’ll be staying here for who knows how long. We’ll have to catch up some time. I need to know if there is some lucky lady that has caught the attention of my friend here.” Tony snorts from inside the car but, surprisingly, doesn’t say anything else.

Happy leans down to see into the car with an offended look on his face. “I’ll have you know that I can get a girl. Maybe not as easy as you, but I can still get one.”

“Don’t let him get to you, Happy. He keeps it up, and I’m going to set his suit on fire.” Azar pats Happy on the back when a throat clears from behind her. “Oh, right, sorry. Happy, this is Lucifer. Lucifer, this is Happy. He's coming with us to meet everyone.”

Lucifer sauntered over with his usual charming grin. “Hello there. Nice to meet you.”

Happy stutters for a moment before leaning into Azar and whispering, “Are you sure this guys' alright? There’s just something about this guy that I don’t like.”

Before she can respond, Lucifer is butting in with a scowl on his face. “Yes, well, I blame Dear Old Dad, for that. Blaming me for everyth-“

“Yeah yeah, we get it. It’s all your dad's fault you’re stuck like this. Get in the back and get over it.” Azar rolls her eyes and moves so the tall devil can get inside. She shuts the door on him just as he opens his mouth to say something else. “Don’t ask, Happy. Let’s just go so I can get settled in and meet the team.”

With a short laugh, Happy walks to the other side of the car, and they both get in. Once they are buckled in, he starts the car and takes off. Azar is looking out the window when she feels a hand on her shoulders and a mouth by her ear. 

“I do like a woman in charge. Perhaps later, we can see just how in charge you can get.“ Sexual energy seemed to ooze from Lucifer’s words, and the tension in the car rose. 

“As much fun as it is to see you get Red all flustered, I’d prefer if she didn’t set the car on fire with us inside.” Tony pulled Lucifer back into his seat, and they stared each other down with a battle of wills. 

“Oh, I’d much rather see you flustered, Tony. I’d prefer to see you naked in my bed, but I’ll settle for flustered.” As Lucifer turned his full attention on the cocky man, the look on Tony's face was a beautiful sight to see. He wasn’t prepared for Lucifer to switch his full attention from person to person, and it left him slightly speechless. Tony started clearing his throat and loosening his tie when Lucifer put his arm on the back of Tony’s seat and whispering in his ear.

Happy glanced at Azar with confusion, but she shook her head, trying her best not to laugh. It was funny seeing the tables turned on her friend, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. Tony was squirming in his seat now, blushing slightly. Lucifer had the biggest grin on and was enjoying every minute of this.

“Pull over! I, ah, just remembered I have to go and, uh, do something for Pepper really quick. She, yeah, Pepper. My assistant.” Tony looked ready to jump out of his skin, and his cheeks were bright red. He looked like he was ready to jump out of the car.

“Tony, we’re only 10 minutes away.” Happy was pulling over even as he said this. Probably used to the erratic behavior of the billionaire.

Tony didn’t bother with a response, just jumped out of the car the moment it stopped. Tapping the reactor on his chest caused his suit to spring to life and envelop him. Before his face mask lowered, he bent over, “You couldn’t handle this,” his face mask shut, and he was off.

Azar was bent over in her seat, laughing hysterically. Lucifer shut the door and had a cat ate the canary look, very content with himself. “Oh, I like this one. Azariah, you naughty girl, why didn’t you tell me you had such fun friends?” Azar was laughing too hard to be able to answer. She was still chuckling to herself when they finally pulled up to the Avengers’ Headquarters. 

Azar got out of the car and stood gawking at the giant building in front of her. It was even more impressive than Tony’s original building. Lucifer stood beside her and looked at the building for a moment before huffing, very unimpressed with it all. “Yes, yes. The building is big. Can we go inside now? I could go for a drink, and I would love to catch up with Thor.”

She shook her and grabbed a bag as Happy, and Lucifer grabbed the rest. The moment they walked into the building, a male voice greeted them, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere. “Welcome back, Ms. Azariah. As always, it is a pleasure when you visit.” The voice held genuine emotion yet, at the same time, felt distant.

The addressed woman seemed to light up. Her face brightening at the greeting, though she didn’t bother to look around for the bodiless voice. “Jarvis! I missed you, pal. Still giving Tony hell?” 

“Of course, Ms. He has started to ignore me more often than not, so it’s like informing a smart brick wall.” Azar had to laugh at that. It sounded like the relationship between Tony, and his AI hadn’t changed a bit. “Tony has notified me that you will be staying here for some time. Shall I inform you where you will be staying?”

“Uh, Tony said something about setting me up between Legolas and Point Break? I’m not entirely sure who those are supposed to be.” Tony was always coming up with nicknames for people, but he always failed to explain who the nicknames were for or why he had picked that particular nickname.

Happy walked in front of Azar and nodded his head towards the stairs, his hands full with her bags. “I’ll take it from here, Jarvis.” He started walking towards the stairs knowing that Azar would follow.

“Very well, Sir.” Jarvis didn’t say another word after that. Though, if she needed something, Azar knew that Jarvis was always ready to help any way it could.

Azar looked at Lucifer, who had been observing this interaction with curiosity, simply held out his hand gesturing that she go first. As she followed Happy, she looked around the new building, curious about the differences between Tony’s two buildings. This one seemed to be more practical and filled with things that might suit each team member’s needs. They passed several shut doors down a long hallway before stopping in front of one with her name on it.

Azar opened the door and gawked as she walked inside. It looked as though Tony had been planning this for some time. Her room was styled in shades of Black, red, and orange. Her bed was huge and had a pitch-black comforter with stars and the moon. Different bands adorned the walls, all ones she liked. The room had been made specifically for her, and it made her tear up. 

“When did he do this?” Azar asked Happy as he put her bags on the bed.

“He has a room set up for you in all his homes. Just in case you ever need somewhere to crash.” Happy glanced around the room briefly, and Azar could just tell he was not fond of the style. He was just too nice to say anything about it.

“Jarvis, is Tony around anywhere?” She had to thank him. It may not mean much to him, but this meant the world to her.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Stark is currently away at the moment. Shall I call him for you?”

“No, it’s ok. Tell him to stop being a chicken shit and get back here before I tell everyone why he ran away.” That should get him to hightail it back.

“Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“That’s it. Thanks, Jarvis.” 

Azar observes Lucifer as he walks around the room, checking everything out before turning to Happy. “I’m gonna take a nap since I worked last night. Is there an extra room that Lucifer can have?”

“Tony didn’t say anything about this guy staying.” Happy gives Lucifer such a distrustful glare that it was almost comical. He really did not want the tall mischievous devil staying here, probably because of what happened in the car.

She laughed and gave him a reassuring smile. “Just a change of plans is all. Seriously, it’s alright. It’s not like he can do much damage with everyone that stays here. Besides, Thor can vouch for him.”

“Yeah, well, I’m keeping an eye on you. I don’t trust you no matter who vouches for you.” Happy points at his eyes and then at Lucifer. Lucifer walks towards the shorter man and smiles, holding his hands out slightly to the side. “Oh, you can keep more than your eyes on me.” That was not the reaction Happy expected, and he widened his eye.

“Lucifer play nice. At least wait until I get up from my nap before trying to seduce anything that walks on two legs.” Azar knew she couldn’t curtail his behavior entirely, but she could try and make him wait until she could play referee. Who knows how the others would react to him.

Lucifer stopped and sighed as though this was a huge inconvenience to him. “Well, that’s just plain boring. What am I supposed to do here then?” He threw his hands up in the air.

Azar started pulling out some clothes from her bag and laying them on the bed. “If Thor is around, then you can hang out with him. I’m sure he would love that. You could explore the rest of the place. I’m sure you can find something to do that doesn’t require getting naked. Don’t forget that it was your idea to come along, not the other way around. Don’t get pissy just because this isn’t your playground. Things work differently around here. All you have to do is wait until I get up, and then we can find something to do.”

“I can think of a few things we-,“ Azar jumped at Lucifer, putting her hand against his mouth before he could finish that sentence. 

“Don’t even think about it. Now follow Happy like a good boy and behave.” She started pushing both Happy and Lucifer out the door before either one could say something else. Both turned around to open their mouth, only for the door to be shut on them.

Azar sighed in relief and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted from everything that had happened and couldn’t wait to get some sleep. Changing out of the clothes that Lucifer had given her and into something more comfortable was great. Sliding into the King-sized bed was even better. Before she fell asleep, she told Jarvis to wake her in a few hours or if Lucifer caused any problems. With that done, she immediately fell asleep.

_______

Screams surrounded her as a fire rages through the house. Smoke fills her lungs, making her cough. She hears her mother scream her name. Turning towards the screams, she sees a wall of fire separating her from her parents. Her dad pushes her mother away, presumably telling her to get out of the house. The more afraid she gets, the more vicious the fire burns until it’s roar blocks out all other sounds.

The young teen scrambles around her room looking for anything hard enough to break the window leading outside, the locks having melted from the flames. “Honey, use the bat!” Her father yelled at her from behind the wall of flames. She runs to pick up the wooden bat and hears a crash come from somewhere in the house, her panic driving her to move even faster. 

Her vision blurred, and her lungs filled with smoke; she uses all her strength and swings at the window, causing the glass to shatter outward. The flames roar hungrily at the fresh air and greedily take it in, becoming yet more ferocious. After knocking out the rest of the glass, she turns to her bed and starts pulling off everything so that she could put it over the doorway in the hopes of creating a hole for her dad to get through, her father screaming at her to get out the entire time. 

She almost makes it when the beams start creaking, and then part of the ceiling collapses, burying her father in wood, flames, and smoke. Her screams could be heard from miles away as she cried for her father to get up. Tears would have fallen down the teens’ face if it hadn’t been for the heat, causing them to evaporate instantly. 

She fell to her knees and screamed for him until her throat was raw, in such focused grief that she never heard the sirens or the firemen busting through her window. She struggled against them as they dragged her out the window to others waiting on the other side; her arms were still outreached for her father. 

“Azariah! Wake up!” 

She coughed as the firemen dragged her to the ambulance and the EMTs started checking her over. 

“AZARIAH YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!” That voice broke her free from the spell of the nightmare. Tony was standing over her, shaking her awake. She shot up, adrenaline and despair running through her veins, making her heart race. The smell of burning and the whoosh of a fire extinguisher forced her to look over and see a short-haired redhead woman trying to put out flames that licked at the walls and other furniture with ferocious tenacity. Trying to help her was a man about the redhead’s height. He didn’t have a fire extinguisher but had a bucket of water that he was throwing on the desk in the far corner.

“Hey, Firestarter. Can you do something about the fire currently burning the place to the ground?” Tony snapped his fingers, getting Azariah’s attention. Her pulse is still racing, and her brain is still panicking from the nightmare; she throws her arm out automatically and calls what flames are left to her. The fire flies to her hand and nestles her palm like a long lost child finding its way home. Clenching her fist, she snuffs the fire out.

The man stares at the redhead for a moment with a raised eyebrow and then turns back to Azar. “I’d say that’s terrifying, but I’ve met a guy that can wield lightning. This is like a regular Tuesday for us.” The redhead gives him a glare and a shake of her head as if to say not now. 

Azar’s breathing is shallow and rapid as her brain continues to throw out horrible what-if scenarios. Her eyes assessing the damage that had happened because of her. “Hey kid, don’t worry about it. There’s nothing in here that can’t be-“ He placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to withdraw from his touch and lunge out of the other side of the bed.

“NO!” The walls started to close in on her as she had a full-on panic attack, “Don’t touch me. I can’t... I can’t breathe. I…I… go have to…out.” She started running past everyone, trying to remember the way she had come in and completely ignored Tony, worriedly calling for her. 

She takes off down the hallway, her hair flowing behind her with flames flickering in between the strands. Her bare feet leaving scorched marks on the wooden floor. It seems to take forever to find the exit, and she doesn’t hesitate to throw the doors open and rush outside, not taking notice of the people she frightened. She continues to run until she can no longer get enough oxygen to keep up the pace and falls to her knees, gasping for air. Sparks fly off her singeing the surrounding area. 

Azar is slowly regaining her breath when she hears the crunching of grass behind her. “That’s not how I wanted to introduce you to the team, but I guess that will work.” Tony walks over to her, careful to avoid the still sparking woman. “Think you can put out the fire so we can talk?”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself enough to have a semblance of control over her power. The flames die down and eventually stop completely. “This was a bad idea, Tony. I could have seriously hurt someone. I shouldn’t be here.” Azar keeps her head down, avoiding Tony’s gaze.

“Actually, you’re in the perfect place. I’ve got precautions in place in case your little fires get out of control. Can you say the same for where you’re living now?” Tony’s complacency about the incident irks her, making her stand up to look him in the eyes.

“I live ALONE! For this exact reason! You’re willing to risk people’s lives for what? So, you can have a freak on your team!? I couldn’t live with the guilt if I hurt someone because I couldn’t control this... this curse!” Azar screams at Tony; her fists clenched tightly. She wanted to punch him in his smug face so badly that it hurt to restrain herself.

He watched her for a moment before snapping his fingers. “What you need is a way to let loose. You can’t keep this part of you locked away forever. It’s a part of who you are and will never go away, no matter how hard you try to wish it away. I didn’t ask you to come here just so you could be part of the team. I wanted you here so you can learn how to control your abilities, and I know exactly how we’re going to do that.” He immediately started walking off, not even bothering to see if Azar would follow.

“Wait? What?” Tony had walked away so quickly and abruptly that Azar was left staring after him in confusion. The way he brushed off her anger and statements left her dazed. Now, she was just trying to keep up with his train of thought. 

“What are you up to now, Tony?” Azar rushes to catch up to him, ignoring the looks that various staff is giving them. Tony had a look to him that she didn’t trust at all. She had seen that look, and it never seemed to bode well for her. 

Tony's aura oozed confidence and purpose as he strode back to the compound. “First, I’m going to see if Banner can figure out a way to make the nonflammable suit for you. Otherwise, all your clothes are going to burn up, not just the ones you’re wearing.” That comment had her looking at the clothes she had on.  
They had small holes in various places that were blackened around the edges. It made her sigh in resignation because he was right. Whatever Tony had planned would probably have her going through clothes like crazy. Not something she could afford now that she no longer had a job. “Okay, so what else you got planned in that scheming brain of yours?”

“That is for me to know and you to find out. Why don’t you get changed while I round up the posse?” He pushes the doors to the building open and starts to walk away.  
“Oh, have you seen Lucifer anywhere? If he isn’t supervised, he tends to get himself into trouble.” Tony rolled his eyes so hard that Azar was a little worried they might roll out of the sockets.

“Your illustrious friend left while you were napping, claiming this place held a serious lack of excitement and left. He did say he would be back in a few hours.” Yeah, that sounded exactly like Lucifer. She was almost afraid to know what kind of excitement he was delving into.

“I’ll give him a shout and let him know I’m awake. He’d be upset if he missed meeting everyone.” He really would. Knowing him, he would complain and pout for days until something distracted him again. Azar really didn’t want to deal with that. They parted ways, with Tony telling her to come to the common area when she was done.

Before she changed, she sent her ex-boss a quick text letting him know what was happening. After a 30 minute shower and a change of clothes, there was still no reply from Lucifer, so she had no way of knowing if he saw the message or not. Well, it wasn’t her fault if he wasn’t here.

With Jarvis's help, she managed to find the common area with no problems. She stopped as soon as she heard noises, her anxiety spiking. She had been nervous about meeting everyone before her nightmare. Now, she was afraid they would be another bunch of judgmental assholes that couldn’t stand to be around her. She took a few deep breaths and then walked into the room where all sound stopped, and all eyes were instantly on her.

“So, I guess I’m gonna be an Avenger.”


	3. Azariah, you naughty girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long on this chapter. My brain just had a hard time focusing on it.

“So, I guess I’m gonna be an Avenger.” Azar looks at everyone with a nervous chuckle. The stares made her fidget, and her anxiety was spiking to dangerous levels. 

Thankfully, Tony seemed to break the awkward silence with his usual snark. “Eh, I wouldn’t go that far yet. You need to get some training under your belt before you get an actual uniform Sparky.” 

Tony and his stupid nicknames were going to get annoying very quickly. Azar raised her eyebrow, and with long strides, she stood in front of him with her arms crossed. “What did I say about your nicknames?”

She could hear snickering behind her but focused on Tony. He grabbed a gummy bear out of the bag he was holding and popped it in his mouth with a smirk. “I said stop giving me stupid ass nicknames.” She held onto the bag and then let go a few seconds later. 

Azar was on her way to sit down when Tony gave out a disappointed cry. “Next time, it’ll be a suit.” She flopped down in an armchair. 

A curly-haired guy leaned towards the redhead from earlier with a confused expression on his face. “I don’t get it. What did she do?” 

“She melted my candy! A completely uncalled for action. I really liked those. I demand you buy me replacements!” Tony looked so sad as he looked at his bag of melted gummy bears.

Azar threw a leg on of the arms of the recliner and rubbed two fingers together while everyone started to laugh. “ Let me play the world’s smallest violin for you. You’re rich. You can buy more, you big baby.”

The other redhead pointed at Azar and looked at Tony. “I like her, Tony. Why haven’t you brought her around sooner?”

Azar chuckled and gave her a smirk. “I told him I didn’t want to join his little crew. Although, now that I see you guys up close, I kinda regret not joining up earlier. Tony didn’t tell me he teamed up with a bunch of supermodels.” Azar gave her a wink and laughed as the blonde sitting next to her started blushing. “So, I’m assuming everyone here knows who I am, but I’ve only seen a few of you on tv, and Tony only ever says your nicknames.”

“Oh yeah, we know all about you. Tony never shuts up about you. Keeps complaining that you don’t come around enough.” The guy from earlier glanced back at Tony briefly before looking at Azar again. Tony rolled his eyes but didn’t refute the statement. He was too busy looking for something in the kitchen.   
“The name is Clint.” Before he had a chance to say anything else, Tony piped up with a shout from the kitchen. “Legolas!”

“Natasha.” The redhead nodded in her direction. “Double Agent!”

The curly-haired guy gave a small smile and wave as he introduced himself as Bruce. “Raging Green Machine!” Bruce facepalmed and sighed.

The blushing blonde cleared his throat, “The name is Steve Rogers, Ma’am.” Tony had found what he wanted and was behind them when he decided to give his version. “Capsicle.” 

“So, I’m guessing the reason Thor isn’t here is that Lucifer found him after all. Well, it’s nice to meet all of you in the flesh. I can never tell if Tony is exaggerating or not when he talks about everyone.” Azar gives Tony a smirk, and he sticks his tongue out at her.

“Now that introductions have been made, we can get to the good stuff. I was hoping Thor would be back by now, but we have enough to go with for right now.” The billionaire puts his hands on Bruce’s shoulders for a moment before sitting in a chair of his own. “I talked to Bruce about creating a suit for you that won’t go up in flames, but we need to know what you can do before we get anywhere. So, we’re going to have a little practice fight. It should give us the information we need, and we can see what you need to work on at the same time.”,

Clint gave Tony wide eyes and gestured towards the lounging goth. “We’re supposed to have a mock fight with Sparky over here? Did you not see her room earlier cause I did, and that was while she was sleeping!” 

“Aww. Afraid of a little fire, are we? Don’t worry, Robin Hood, when it comes to you, I’ll be sure to keep the heat to a minimum. I do make a good heater on a cold night, though.” Azar blew Clint a small heart-shaped flame that fizzled out before it had even gotten halfway to him. He wasn’t sure what to think about her, and no one else had anything to say. They were too busy trying not to laugh. “Now, where are we doing this shindig cause enclosed areas are not a good idea.”  
Steve put up a finger before anyone else could speak, “I suggest we do this outback. It’s a large enough area that we don’t have to worry about anything accidentally being blown up or set on fire. It’ll also give Azariah enough room to do any sort of exercises Tony and Bruce need her to do.” He looked around the room and was met with various degrees of agreement.

Azar sighs in disappointment at what this truly meant, and everyone looked at her in confusion. Everyone but Tony. He knew perfectly well why she didn’t want to do this, and his broad smile had the others even more confused. Bruce was the only one to ask her, “Is there something wrong with this? We don’t have to do this if you aren’t willing to. I can make you something without a flashy show if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Shaking her head, she stands up and shakes a finger at Tony. “You are going to have to buy me an entire wardrobe at this rate.” Azar glances at the rest and motions at her clothes. “I may be fireproof, but sadly, my clothes are not. If we are going to do this, then I’m going to wind up burning through whatever clothes I have on, which means finding an outfit I’m least attached to. No offense, but I also don’t want to be naked around the lot of you, and yet that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

Steve and Bruce started blushing profusely while Tony began to cackling like a madman. Clint began to mumble under his breath about the entire team being crazy, but Natasha stood up and whispered something to Azar. A small nod from her, and they both left the room without a thought to the men left behind.

An hour later and everyone was on the field waiting for Azariah to show up. Natasha and Azariah had run off to do something, leaving everyone else to set up. Tony was standing next to Bruce, who was messing with various computer equipment, pointing out different things. Bruce wasn’t going to be joining this fight. Instead, he was in charge of collecting any and all information from today.

Hawkeye was looking over his equipment, talking to Steve, when a whistle grabbed his attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up to see Natasha suited up, walking towards them. Next to her was Azariah in an outfit that was similar but with less cloth. Instead of a onesie uniform, it was a two-piece that left her arms and legs mostly bare, Her hair in a high ponytail to keep it out of her face. The suit seemed to cling in ways that showed off every curve.

Azar was oblivious to the stares coming from the guys, but Natasha was much more observant. She had noticed the way that Steve’s cheeks lit up when he saw the women, coughed, and then looked away, seemingly busying himself with adjusting hi,s shield. Nat had also noticed how her best friend almost dropped his quiver and quickly acted as though he was just putting them on the ground and adjusting the strap. She snickered quietly, and Azar looked at her with confusion. She just shook her head, wondering how long it would take the two men to ask out the trainee on a date. It was very obvious to anyone observant enough that the men had taken a liking to the newest member from the moment they had seen her.

When the two redheads finally stopped near the group, Tony looked at their outfits. “What? Did you not have enough material to make another complete outfit? What is this? Leftover material from the spandex store reject?”

“I thought it was the most sensible thing for her to wear, considering everything else will go up in flames before we get anything done. She can move in it without it limiting her movement, and it leaves her arms and hands free to use her power without worrying about the entire thing catching fire.” Natasha gave Tony a small smile, one that curled the corners of her mouth into an amused grin.  
Tony, on the other hand, rolls his eyes and changes the topic altogether. “So here’s what’s going to happen. Azar will do a few warmups so we can get her baseline, and then the four of us will make mock attacks on her. We need to see how good she can fight and control her power, but we don’t want to break her. So, don’t break her bones.”

Azar gave Natasha a look and then started laughing. “Oh Tony, I don’t think you have to worry about them breaking me. You should worry about me breaking them.”

Bruce looked up from a screen, “I’d…uh.. prefer if there was no breaking of anybody. We kinda need everyone in one piece.”

A wink and an innocent smile were given to Bruce as Azar replied. “Bruce, I would never actually break anybody unless I’m in danger. Nothing bad is going to happen. Scout’s honor.” She held her three fingers up in a vague salute.

“Why don’t I believe you? You make it sound like the exact opposite is going to happen.” Worry lines appear on his face as he frowns.

“Hmmm, probably because you are a smart man.” Azar laughs full of mischievous intent making Bruce shake his head and then look at Tony. “So, what do you want me to do first?

Tony has Natasha and Steve run her through a series of basic fight styles to test her stamina, flexibility, and reflexes. Thirty minutes later and she was being thrown to the ground by Nat from a surprise kick. She wasn’t used to going up against professional badasses and was very much outmatched. She had taken various types of karate, but she had never needed to use the lessons in real life and so had quite the classes. It had been years since she had practiced fighting, and she was extremely rusty by the way she was being thrown around.

Lying on her back on the ground and an arm covering her eyes, Azar threw an arm up. “Ok, Ok, I surrender. I’m sorry I said I would break you guys. I may have made a mistake.”

“You’re decent for not being a trained fighter. I’ve met people who have had training and still couldn’t fight.” Natasha said, her voice a little breathy as she watched Azar lay on the ground.

Steve grabbed a few bottles of water that Bruce offered and handed one to each of the females. After taking a drink, he set the bottle on the temporary table. “Some more training, and you’ll be able to defend yourself against the average person. With a lot more training and you might be able to keep up with us.”

“Sounds exciting,” Azar replied after guzzling most of her bottle; she sat up and looked over at Bruce, who was staring intently at the screens and typing furiously. “So, what’s the verdict, Doc?”  
Bruce looked at her and smiled, “Well, you’re a healthy individual. Everything is in normal range for a woman of your age. Once you’re ready, we can start with the next step.”

A sigh of resignation escapes her lips, and she slowly stands up. “Alright, let’s get this over with, so I can eat. I’m so hungry that I could probably eat an entire cow.”

With a nod from Tony, Nat and Steve spread out in the open area. Giving each other room to maneuver around should they need it. Clint took that as his cue and started getting his things ready. Tony put his hands on his young friend’s shoulders and smiled at her. “This is the time to let loose and have fun. Stretch your legs, so to speak. Try not to burn us alive but at the same time, show us what you got.”

“Thanks, Tony. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and I promise to try and not roast anyone.” After stretching out her sore muscles, Azar walks out into the opening. She glances at Tony and then the rest of them, taking in their defensive stances as they readied for any attack. She raises her hand, and flames erupt from her palms. “So who wants to go first?” She says in a teasing tone.

She starts running towards Natasha and Steve, throwing fireballs in their direction. Steve and Natasha jump out of the way, each going a different direction and circling Azar. Both were good at ranged attacks but considering this wasn’t a real fight, and no actual harm was supposed to happen, they were limited in what they could and couldn’t do. Azariah couldn’t watch both of them simultaneously and chose to face off against the more formidable opponent first. She turned her back to Nat and ran towards Steve.

A large circle of fire springs from the ground and traps the soldier inside with Azar. Nat veers off to the side to avoid the unexpected fire. The flames are too high to jump over, and she could only see glimpses of what was happening inside. Between the flickering of the flames, she could see Steve trying to land hits on the woman with incredible difficulty. Anytime he would get close to landing a hit, Azar would create a blaze that would force the Captain to back up. Azar kept him off balance enough to get in a couple of hits. 

Steve stood at a distance, trying to think of a different tactic that would not include him getting burned to a crisp. He could throw the shield at her, but that might a painful experience for a first training session. Azar looked at him and sighed. “Captain, are you sure you want to keep doing this? I’ve never let go of this before. I’ve never tried to do something of this scale before; I’m not exactly sure how much control I’ll have.”

Crouching down in a defensive stance, Steve readjusts the shield on his wrist and gives a wry smile. “I can do this all day.” Azariah grins, and the ring of fire goes out. “Well, if you’re sure, then let’s turn up the heat.”

Natasha glances at Clint, who gives her a shrug and then takes out a baton. “I hope you’re planning on actually doing something, not just standing around looking pretty.” She leaps towards Azar with the baton out.

Clint strings up an arrow, “Nothing about me is pretty.” He mumbles under his breath and shoots the arrow towards Azariah.

Azariah rolls to the ground, narrowly missing the baton Nat swung at her side. Steve threw his shield at her, only for it to be blasted away by a blast of fire. Clint’s arrow lands beside Azar and explodes in thick smoke, everyone’s vision becoming obscured. Having a lot of experience with smoke, Azar drops to the ground trying to make herself as small a target as possible. 

“Really, Barton? You finally decide to join in, and this is the first thing you do.” Tony gives off a snarky comment flying around, trying to see. 

“Well, I didn’t think a bomb would be a good idea. Besides, now there’s no fire.” Clint readies another arrow in anticipation.

Tony rolls his eyes and doesn’t bother giving a reply. “Jarvis, scan for heat signatures.”

Tony’s screen is replaced with a different screen, and now he can make out three heat signatures. Two of the figures are slowly moving around while a third, smaller figure makes its way towards the edge of the smoke. “Guys, she’s making a break for it. 3 o’clock.” Following Tony’s direction, the two make their way towards Azar.

Azar stands up outside the clearing smoke and slaps her hands together with a smile. She had always wanted to do this but had always been too afraid to try. She caresses the air on both sides and two flaming tigers from underneath her hands. They raise their heads to roar, and the sound of crackling fire rushes out. She grins gleefully and pets the tiger’s waiting to see what her   
opponents think of the new obstacle.

“Watch it guys; she has friends now.” Azar hears Tony shout out the warning and pouts.

She puts her hands on her hip and glares up at Tony, “Quite ruining all my surprises! It’s obvious you need something to occupy yourself.” Throwing her hands in the air Azar creates giant flames that form into an enormous dragon. It takes off after Tony and chases him around the sky. He yelps and starts shooting at the fiery dragon to no effect. “That isn’t very nice, Azar!” He shouts as he swoops by with the dragon hot on his heels.

Steve and Natasha come out of the smoke with wide eyes as Tony swoops down in front of them and then takes off into the sky. The dragon is closing in. The tigers beside Azar start stalking towards Steve and Nat, making them back up. 

The smoke had dissipated enough that Azar could see Clint in the distance with another arrow ready. She stares him down as she blows him a kiss, a swarm of butterflies unleashed from her hand flying straight for him. His eyes widen, and even with the distance, she hears him yell,   
“WHAT THE FUCK?” She laughs at the small bit of chaos happening. With everyone now occupied, she takes a step back to watch everything happening. 

In the sky, Tony was trying to stay out of reach of the snapping dragon flying behind him. Occasionally he would shoot a beam at the creature only to go straight through it with no effect. He zipped around just a speck in the sky.

Nat and Steve worked together to avoid the tigers that were attacking them. Steve would throw his shield at a tiger to distract it, while Natasha would throw a small bang grenade at the other. The attacks never phased the tigers as they moved ever closer to the duo, making them gradually back up. Azar cackled with glee, watching the entire scene happen. It was hilarious watching these tough fighters try and take down the flaming creatures and not being able to do anything to them.

Azar glanced around the area, trying to spot Clint. She could hear him yelling profanities and eventually spotted him sprinting across the grass, trying to avoid the butterflies that were flying after him. The butterflies had picked up speed. Anytime they got near him, he would swing his bow out, making them scatter for a few seconds before swarming him again.

The sky seemed to darken quickly as Azar started walking towards Bruce making her pause. Lighting and thunder followed the darkness as she frowned. It wasn’t supposed to rain today, yet it looked like a vicious storm was about to happen. All her creatures fizzled out, “Guys… You did tell Thor about this little exercise. Right?” Lines creased her brow as she looked around in worry. She looked at Bruce, almost pleading, “Please don’t tell me that no one warned him.” 

Bruce immediately started murmuring something, probably to the man in the sky. He shook his head, looking a little pale. Before anything else could be done, a figure dropped down in front of Azar, looking thoroughly pissed off. He glared at her as everyone else took off for the angry god. An eruption of shouting happened all at once, and Azar started backing away slowly. For every step back she took, Thor took one step towards her.

“Listen, big guy, this isn’t wha-“ her words cut short as Thor punches her in the chest. Hard.

Azariah flies backward quite a bit and lands in the grass on her back. Pain radiated throughout her entire body just from that one punch, and she had to concentrate on trying to relearn how to breathe. She was so focused that she never heard everyone trying to explain to Thor what was going on. Tony landed close to her, his suit retracting, and he hovered over her, trying to figure out the best way to help her. 

After a few seconds, Tony knelt beside her, slid his hand under her back, and then lifted her into a sitting position. “Deep breaths Azar or you’re going to hyperventilate.” All he got was a glare from the woman who looked like she was going to murder someone. “Now, don’t do anything rash, Azariah. He had no idea we were going to do this, and no one could get ahold of him to warn him.”

The fire flickered in the redheads’ eyes as she stared at her friend. “If you don’t want to get hurt, I suggest you get away from me.” Her voice low with a hint of smoky hoarseness.

Tony’s eyes widen, and he backs away slowly. “Think about what you’re doing, Azar. He thought someone was attacking us and was trying to defend us. You’d have done the same.”

Azar slowly got up; pain is all but forgotten in her fury. She was no longer paying attention to her friend and was slowly walking towards the others. Flames slowly started appearing from her skin until all you could see were the flames. Tony worriedly looked at Steve and Natasha talking to Thor with their backs turned. Thor had noticed the angry woman headed in their direction and murmured something to make them turn around.

“Jarvis, has Lucifer shown up yet?” Tony asked with a whole lot of panic in his voice.

“Yes, Sir. He is currently in the guest room.” 

“Tell him that there is an emergency with Azar out here, and we could use his help.” Tony keeps walking while talking to Jarvis, staying close enough to Azar that he could fight her off if needed but far enough back that he wasn’t burnt to a crisp from the heat.

After a few seconds, Jarvis replied, “Mr. Morningstar is on his way. Is there anything else you require?” 

“That’s it.” He finished the talk and focused on the flaming woman that had stopped in front of Thor. Natasha and Steve were on either side of him while Clint was standing off to the side, staring at Azariah wearily. 

Thor held Mjolnir loosely at his side. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Azariah started talking before he could make a sound. Azar’s eyes glare at him as the flames covering her grow bigger and brighter in her fury. “What gives you the right to harm my child, Asgardian? I was ancient before your people was even formed, and I could destroy you with just a slimmer of my power.” Her voice held the crackle of the fire and was slightly ethereal. It was beautiful and held so much rage that everyone but Thor instinctively took a step back.

A tsking noise is heard off to the side, and everyone turns to look in the direction it’s coming from. Lucifer is staring at Azariah with a smirking smile and waggles his fingers at her. “Azariah, you naughty girl. You never told me you were an Elemental. What other secrets have you been hiding from me?” He walked right up to her and gently grabbed her chin, looking into her eyes. The flames that blaze hot and steadily off her causes Lucifer no harm. 

Clint, Nat, Tony, and Steve all look at each other with confusion at the new information, but no one wanted to draw attention to themselves, and so they kept their mouths shut. Thor looked horrified and knelt on one knee, his head bowed. “ Forgive me. I was simply defending my friends against someone I thought was a foe. I had no idea who I was dealing with. I beg forgiveness Oh Ancient One.” His reaction caused another round of looks between the four teammates. 

Azar looked at the kneeling god, and the fire around her softened. Taking a step back from Lucifer, she stared at the man, and her words were not as harsh as before. “I respect your loyalty, young Asgardian. Be warned that if you lay hands on my child again to harm her, then it will cost me nothing to destroy you.” Her smile brightened as she stared into Lucifer’s eyes. She hugged him as though they were friends that hadn’t seen each other in years.

“Samael. It has been far too long since the Light bringer has made his presence known. We have missed you. We thought you had abandoned us until we heard your screams.” Shock crossed Lucifer’s face and then sorrow. He barked out a harsh, cold laugh. “I should have known that you would show up. You were always the one most likely to make an appearance if your children were in danger. I no longer by that name. I go by Lucifer now.” 

Tony raised his hand, drawing attention to himself. “I’m sorry, but is anybody going to explain what’s going on, or should I guess. You two are acting like you haven’t seen each other when it’s only been an hour.” Tony’s voice was thick with sass as he pointed his finger between them. The rest of the team were just in shock that Lucifer hadn’t been burned to a crisp with the bear hug he had been given.

Lucifer cleared his throat, “That’s not Azariah right now. That is a being that has existed for longer than you can even imagine. I am curious why you’re here now and didn’t make your presence known much earlier. If you had been around earlier, I would have sensed it.”

“Azariah had her ability so tightly locked down that her full potential was never released. When the young so-called-god hit her, she let go of her tight control, and I was finally able to sense her.   
There are so few of my children left that I was ready to hurt whoever had harmed her.” The being crossed her flaming arms and briefly glared at the still kneeling blonde before Clint started spouting questions.

Lucifer held his hand up, “I will answer all your questions later. Right now, I must reassure our esteemed guest we are not hurting her offspring.” He looked at the elemental and gave her a suave grin. “You do realize she is safe here. No real harm will fall upon her while she is learning who and what she is.”

“I know you will take care of her. I trust you will teach her what she is and the power she possesses.” It laid an arm upon his arm looking up at him in earnest. “They are still out there. Once they learn of her, she will be in grave danger. I wish I could keep her safe forever, but just as the bird must leave its nest, so must she.”

“You have my word that she will learn everything I know. Her friends and I will teach her to control that enormous power she had hidden away. When they come for her, they will find an army guarding her.” Everyone rose a little taller at his last words; even Thor stood up, cracking his knuckles in anticipation of the fight.

The being nodded her head and looked around the area at everyone. Satisfied at their reactions, she shook her head, “It would seem that she has surrounded herself with good people. I am putting great trust in all of you. It would be in your best interests to not disappoint either of us, or my wrath will great.” 

Steve took a step forward and bowed his head a little before staring the fiery woman in the eyes with a fierce look. “We’ll protect Azariah against whatever comes for her.”

It grinned at him with a gentle smile. Looking back at Lucifer, it frowns and sighs. “I must leave. I have been here for far too long already. I fear my presence here might have already alerted them, and I do not want them to find out where she is before she is ready. Until we meet again, Light Bringer.” The flames die down as it gives him another big hug. He wraps his arms around the now naked woman.

“Guys, she’s naked.” Steve grabs his shield, blushing ferociously, and moves it over her backside. Everyone else turns their backs to give her some privacy.

Lucifer unwraps his arms and takes off his suit jacket while Azar stays pressed up against him to hide. “This should hide most of that beautiful skin of yours.” She puts on the jacket and buttons it up. She had to roll the sleeves up just to use her hands. The jacket fell high on her thighs, covering everything. Azariah was in a daze as she did this.

Tension surrounded her as she finished the last few buttons, and when she was done, she l   
looked up anxiously at Lucifer. His expression was soft. “What am I?” She whispered to him before her legs buckled. She would have fallen if Lucifer hadn’t expected this reaction and caught her, sweeping her into his arms.

Lucifer gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. “You, my dear, are unique. You are also lost. Once you have clothes on, I’ll explain everything to you. I’ll make sure that you find yourself again.”

Tony took that as permission to turn back around and gave a fake cough. “We.” Azariah looked at him, confused, before Tony continued. He gave a wide smile, “We’ll make sure you find yourself.”

Lucifer bowed his head towards Tony, then turned around and headed back towards the building.

Everyone was sitting around when Azar entered the room. She felt a little better, but she still felt weak and slitfhtly in shock. Tony gave her a plate of food as she sat down. Clint looked around the room before speaking up with a confused look on his face. “So, are we going to talk about what the fuck just happened back there? I’ve seen aliens, but nobody said fire ladies that possess people are a thing!”

Lucifer sighed and straightened up, walking in front of the group. “To tell you what happened, I must first tell you about the origin of the elementals. You need to know the history to understand what is coming.”

Concerned and skeptical glances went around the room.

He continued, “Before Dear Old Dad ever arrived, there was an entity that roamed the universes and dimensions. It had been there since the beginning of existence. When father showed up, he made a pact with the entity that neither would do the other harm. When he made us, he used bits of the entity’s power to create our light. After millennia it split into four smaller beings with their own specialized abilities. They call themselves sisters, but they have no actual gender. 

When I created the stars, all the sister’s gat-“ Lucifer was cut off by Steve’s abrupt shout.

“That is not what it says in the bible.” Steve stood up and crossed his arms in defiance at this new information.

“I am older than your silly little book. Most of the things written in that book are either made up or greatly exaggerated.” Lucifer sneered at Steve, who glared at the devil.

“I doubt you’re the actual devil. You’re just a grown man with a serious narcissistic problem.” Steve shot back.

“It’s not my problem that you don’t believe me. If I were to show you my wings or Devil face, your minds would become an incomprehensible mess.” Lucifer’s eyes flashed red briefly in his anger.

“Boys, boys. We’re getting off-topic.” Natasha speaks up with a wry smile. She was amused at the fighting, but it wasn’t helping anyone.

“Cap, you fight alongside a Norse god, a rich guy with amazing technology, and a guy that turns into a green raging fighting machine. You have fought against another Norse god and an army of aliens that came out of a portal to another place in the galaxy. This guy hugged a woman covered completely in flames and didn’t die. I might not believe he’s the Devil, but he certainly isn’t normal.” Clint stood up and put a hand on Steve’s shoulder, trying to get him to sit back down.

Tony was messing with something on his phone, “Either he’s a clone, or his family has a solid genetic structure.” He flicked his wrist towards the table in the middle of all of them; tons of pictures showed up in a holographic display above the table. It was a collage of photographs from different places. Most were in black and white, the rest in color. “Jarvis has been looking into you since you stepped onto the property. Every picture Jarvis pulled has your face in it, or at least someone that looks so close to you that they’re indistinguishable. Some of these pictures are from the early 1900s. There are paintings from the 1800s and earlier that look oddly enough like you. Yet, you have no real family history, and you didn’t legally exist five years ago. You are something; I just don’t know what yet.” 

Lucifer went to answer when Azariah stood up and yelled. “Enough!” She walked over to him with such sadness in her eyes. He was weary as she stood before him. She glanced at Steve, “When that being took me over, she showed me the beginning.” She raised her hand, and a flame took the form of an angel. The fire grew and diminished in size, showing the story as she talked. “She showed me the creation of the stars and the beginning of life. She showed me everything.”

Azar turned back to Lucifer with tears falling down her face. With her other hand, she gently caressed his cheek. “They mourned with you when they heard your screams of despair. When HE helped create us, Fire put a little more power in us than her sisters did with the others. She hoped that if you ever made your way up here, you would come across us, which would help ease the pain of losing your beloved children. That it would feel as though you were among the stars again.” 

Lucifer placed his hand lovingly on Azar’s hand. His eyes soft as his other hand wipes away her tears. “I did not realize that they had mourned me.”

The rest of the group stared at the interaction between the two in shock. Steve looked deep in thought, huffing before jerking his shoulder out from Clint’s grasp and walking out of the room without a word. That seemed to shake Azar out of her thoughts. She blinked owlishly, looking around at everyone as if she had been in a trance. Jerking her hand back, her eyes widened, and panic was apparent on her face. 

“I...I can’t. She’s... I can still feel her in my head.” Azar started backing away slowly. “I need to go.” She turned and ran out of the room. 

Lucifer called out for her, yet she ignored him and continued. Tony made a motion as if he would follow her, but a shake from his head kept Tony where he was. Clint sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, aside from the whole spiritual crisis, I’m sure we are now all having. We still need to know about these people that might come after Azariah. Steve is going to need some time to cool down, but I’ll talk to Azar. At dinner, we need to come up with a plan.”

Clint and Natasha shared a look as he passed by before following after Azariah. Natasha leaned back on the couch, drawing Lucifer’s attention to the matters at hand. “Aside from the whole heaven is real, and so are angels, tell us about the people that are going to be after Azariah. We need to know what we are up against so we can make a plan.”

Tony, leaning up against a counter in the kitchen, held up a finger. “Heaven and angels are still a debatable matter.” Bruce shook his head at Tony, silently trying to tell him that now was not the time.

Lucifer brought his hands palms up and spread his hands, back in storyteller mode, his face grim. “Yes, well, there was an organization of people that rose up when they found out about the elementals that walked Earth. This organization thought all elementals were an aberration and needed to be destroyed. They quickly found out that they could not fight against pure elements without a little help. The Aconites went into hiding and bid their time as they grew. They came across Hydra and, for a brief time, pooled their resources together. With Hydra’s advanced weaponry, they managed to capture a few elementals.” 

Bruce, Tony, and Natasha’s heads perked up at the mention of Hydra. It was a name they knew very well. Lucifer paid no attention to the looks as he plowed on, though his explanation was growing weak as he grew bored of the retelling of past events. “Blah, blah, blah. The Aconites gained enough toys and weaponry from Hydra that they nearly made all elementals extinct. It drove all elementals into hiding while their creators mourned the loss of so many children.” He ended the story with his face grim and his hands in his pockets.

Bruce took his glasses off and looked up at Lucifer, thinking. “How exactly do you know about this? You say you’re the Devil, so it would be safe to assume that you were in hell at the time. How do you know about the Aconites or Hydra or even their joining forces?”

Lucifer gave a devilish grin as he turned to Bruce. “Just because I’m the Devil doesn’t mean I stay in Hell.” He motioned his hands down his body. “Obviously, I come back from time to time. I found out about the elementals during one of my stays, but my brother forced me back before I could do anything about either organization. When I returned, I had all souls tortured twice as much until I found out what I needed.”

Tony opened his mouth to argue about Lucifer’s sanity, but Natasha spoke up first. “I think we all need some time to figure things out. Why don’t we take a breather and talk about what to do around dinner?” She glared at Tony, daring him to argue. He took a disgruntled breath and nodded his head. The small group disbanded, thinking about what was to come.

Clint found Azariah in the pool room. She was sitting on the side of the pool, her feet dangling in the water. She was soaked as if she had jumped into the pool, fully clothed. She looked lost in thought and didn’t seem to notice him come in. “Penny for your thoughts?” he said as he sat down beside her.

Azar looked at him for a moment before looking back at the water, watching the strings on the bottom of her wet jeans trail in the water. “I thought I knew who I was. Just some weird chick that could play with fire. Now? Now, I know what I am but have no clue who I am. I’m not even really human. Yet, I’m not celestial. I’m so lost and broken that I don’t even know where to start to try and fix things.” 

Clint watched the water ripple in the pool as he listened to Azar. Her voice was hitching in places with heartbreak and loneliness. The emotions in her voice made him look at her. “I thought coming here would fix everything. It was a stupid idea, but I honestly thought this place would magically fix everything wrong. Now, I’m worse off than before. I can’t keep this fire locked up anymore because that being destroyed the box I had it in. I can still feel her in my head. I just can’t do this….” Tears fell down her face, dripping into the pool as her voice trails off.

Clint’s heart breaks a little as he listens to Azar. He scoots closer to her bumping her shoulder with his. She looked at him, tears still falling. “I have to say you did get a better deal. At least you didn’t have a homicidal maniac of a god mess around with your brain to make you kill your friends. It sounds like this entity is more like a mom looking out for her kids. Just because you know more about your background doesn’t mean it changes who you are. I barely know you, but you seem like a good person. You can be terrified of all this new information, but the main thing is that you move forward and use it to better yourself. You have an entire group of people ready to drop everything to help you. We can help you learn to control your powers and defend yourself, but we can’t help you come to terms with who you are. You’re the only one that can do that.” 

Azar looked up at Clint and gave him a weak smile. “I don’t know. You seem to be doing a pretty good job.”

He chuckled and stood up. Looking down at her, he held out his hand. Azar hesitated for a moment before taking his hand. With a small jerk, she was on her feet. Clint laughed again as he stared at her soaking wet clothes. “Looks like you need to change again.”

She gave him a cheeky grin, “The good thing about being me is that I double as a portable dryer.” Her clothes start to smoke as they begin to dry. 

“Ah, yes. Our teammate, the portable dryer.” Clint’s voice is full of humor as they make their way out of the pool room.


	4. update

Hey all, just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't forgotten about this story. I've been having difficulting focusing on this story because my brain wanted to work on the other one more. Now that I've finished the chapter I can try to get this one going again. Hopefully, my brain stays focused on this. I'm not any good at all the romance stuff so I have a harder time writing this story. lol. Thanks to all the words of encouragement. Sorry it's taking so long. My girlfriend has been on my ass lately for another chapter cause she thinks Clint deserves love XD Stay safe out there.


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